Lexical cohesion register variation in transition : "The merchants of Venice" in afrikaans

Abstract:

On the assumption that different registers of translated drama have different functions and that
they therefore present information differently, the aim of the present study is to identify textual
features that distinguish an Afrikaans stage translation from a page translation of Shakespeare's
The Merchant of Venice. The first issue addressed concerns the nature and extent of lexical
cohesion in these two registers. The second issue concerns my contention that the dialogue of a
stage translation is more "involved". (Biber 1988) than that of a page translation. The research was
conducted within the overall Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) paradigm but the analytical
frameworks by means of which these aims were accomplished were derived from text linguistics
and register variation studies, making this an interdisciplinary study. Aspects of Hoey's ( 1991)
bonding model, in particular, the classification of repetition links, were adapted so as to quantify
lexical cohesion in the translations. Similarly, aspects of Biber's (1988) multi-dimensional
approach to register variation were used to quantify linguistic features that signal involvement.
The main finding of the study is that drama translation register (page or stage translation) does
have a constraining effect on lexical cohesion and involved production. For Act IV of the play an
overall higher density of lexical cohesion strategies was generated by the stage translation. In the
case of the involved production features analysed, the overall finding was that the stage translation
displayed more involvement than the page translation, to a statistically highly significant extent.
The features analysed here cluster together sufficiently to reveal that in comparison with an
Afrikaans page translation of a Shakespeare play, a recent stage translation displays a definite
tendency towards a more oral, more involved and more situated style, reflecting no doubt a
general modern trend towards creating more appropriate and accessible texts

Citation:Kruger, Alet (2000) Lexical cohesion register variation in transition : "The merchants of Venice" in afrikaans, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2988>

Files in this item

Copyright Statement

Items in UNISA Institutional Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Items may only be viewed and downloaded for private research and study purposes. Please acknowledge publications according to acceptable standards and norms.

Related items

Undergraduate students at the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) experience great difficulty in developing their translation competence during their training period. On the one hand, they show many signs of poor quality ...

This study aimed to determine whether the current African language translation facilitation course (ALTFC) held at the Directorate Language Services (D Lang) is in tune with contemporary trends in translator training, as ...

The study adopts a theory of Descriptive Translation Studies to undertake a comparative analysis of stylistic devices in Shakespeare’s two plays, Julius Caesar and Macbeth and their Xitsonga translations. It contextualises ...